Computer and video games have matured from the likes of “Pong” into epic adventures having rich storylines, photorealistic graphics, and complex interaction systems, thereby allowing a player to immerse herself in the alternative reality that is emulated by the video game. As used herein, video games may include, but are not limited to, any game played on a data processing device. Examples of video games may include computer games, game console games (e.g., playable on the Xbox®, PlayStation®, and/or Nintendo® brand game consoles), coin-operated or token-operated arcade games, portable gaming device games (e.g., playable on the Nokia N-Gage®, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, a mobile phone, etc.), or other software-driven games.
Video games come in many genres, such as first-person shooters (FPS), role-playing games (RPG), simulation, sports, strategy, and driving, to name a few. Each video game is not necessarily limited to a single genre, and may indeed encompass multiple genres. A RPG generally refers to a game in which each participant assumes the role of a character in the game (such as an adventurer, monster, or other player-character) that can interact within the game's virtual world. A character controlled by a player/user is referred to as a player-character (PC). A computer controlled character is referred to as a non-player-character (NPC).
RPGs use a fighting system through which PCs and NPCs engage in simulated fights and/or battles, referred to herein as character engagement. As used herein, the system used by a RPG to simulate fighting is referred to as a battle system. The battle system is typically implemented as a software module of the video game. One known battle system is a real-time battle system, whereby player-characters take actions as soon as input is received from the player, without waiting for another character to take an action. Another known battle system can be broadly referred to as a turn-based battle system. In a turn-based battle system each character performs an action in a predetermined order, such as a continuous sequential order of all player-characters and non-player-characters involved in the character engagement until the character engagement is resolved, e.g., one character or team wins.
Another type of known battle system is a party-based battle system, whereby a single player or user provides instructions for multiple characters within the same party engaged in a battle with one or more enemies. In known party-based battle systems, one character may opt to defend another character in the same party. That is, the player may instruct a first character in the party to defend a second character in the party from any enemies during a battle. In such party-based battle systems, a player must specify the character defending the second character, and the player must also choose the second character that is to be defended. However, such systems quickly become tedious to players in that each player must continuously choose and/or update characters to perform defense and those to be defended, thereby causing players to become easily frustrated. Thus, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a party-based battle system that provided an improved defense capability.